Over the years I have been asked many times why I have chosen to homeschool my children. Homeschooling used to be an odd undertaking, a decision that many in society looked down upon, thinking that it was a choice only old fashioned, uneducated, ‘different’, overprotective, mothers made. These days homeschooling is growing at an alarming rate. There are approximately 1.5 million homeschooling families in the US, and the number grows every year.
With the decline in our education system, and the rise of negative social issues that affect our children on a daily basis, what used to be a practice only for the ‘religious’ is becoming more and more attractive to many different walks of life.
Personally I homeschool because scripture tells me that I am to teach my children through their daily life. Deuteronomy 11:18-19 tells me that I am to impart God’s law and principles, as we sit at home, when we walk along the road; when we get up and lay down. How can I teach them if they are not with me?
Our decision has not come without sacrifice. We don’t have a new car or fancy toys. We don’t go on extravagant vacations or feel the need to shop every weekend.
I delight in teaching my children new things. I love that they are not stuck behind a desk for eight hours a day and buried under two hours of homework each night. I love that they get to experience unconventional lessons, like gardening, cooking, beach combing and fort building. I love that they are naive to the ugliness of our culture but schooled in God’s Word and the great things He has done. I love that they can say “my mom taught me to read!” I love that when the weather is beautiful, we can call a fun day and take off to the playground.
Yes, it is exhausting and frustrating at times! I often wonder why, after many times of saying I would never and could never become a homeschooling mom did I decide to become one. Yet in all of the chaos, every time I look at my children; whether it be as they study, read, recite the US Presidents, or run around the yard, I am reminded that they are gifts given to me for a very short time. The choice I have to make every day is what to do with that gift.
My goal is not to raise genius children. My goal is to raise children that love God, and desire to use the talents and abilities that He has given them to do what He calls them to do. My job is to develop those abilities so they can be successful.
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